As Sour runs to the egg, she stops -she must have changed her mind- I was just about to run back but she says “We’re not going to hurt you, or your egg.” In a calm voice, trying not to show her fear. 

The Pandamander steps back. “We won’t harm you, we want to protect you.” She holds her arms out, showing no threat. The Pandamander bows its head. I think- I think it’s working, it’s actually working. The Pandamander stares into our eyes, it’s calmed down now.

“We’ll leave now.” Says Sour. The Pandamander comes up with us to where the rocks had fallen, it pushes them away so we can get out. We see it heading back to its nest. I know it’s not a bad creature, it just feels threatened.

Outside, me and Sour are relieved. Inside, we hear that the Pandamander is snuggling with its child and egg.

As we walk back to Seagol’s Diner, we talk about how we could help the Pandamander and make sure no one finds the cave by accident. Sour is urgent for an idea of how to protect it. Ping!  Say there had been a rockfall and then report it, stop people going there to the overhang of the cliffs.

As the sun rises I see people opening their stores, seeing Beret setting out new hats in his hat store, Delight changing the sign from closed to open in her ice-cream parlour. I see people setting up their deckchairs, it might be a lovely day for once! They wave as we wave back. By the time we get to Seagol’s Diner, traffic has begun around the town.

I push the key through the back door and shove it open. As I head to the kitchen, leaving Sour behind in my room, my mind questions a lot. Will the Pandamander be safe? What if someone goes into the cave? When will the egg hatch?

Suddenly, Sour walks out of my room, seeing a place on the wall with seaglass, with the same black stripe on each one. Me and Sour think alike.

After bringing a snack from the kitchen, Sour has her head stuck in ancient looking books. She finds one that was written in 1505, about a captain and his prey. A captain once caught a black striped egg. He kept it with them, but that night he was under attack by the devil’s panda. The captain knew it was after the egg so he just managed to throw it into the sea. Ever since then, fishermen and captains had a rule, any species of mander they spot, they hunt and hope they never see one again.

That evening, we talk. Our adventure has only just begun.